Pomeranian War - Background

Background

The main cause for the Swedish intervention in the Seven Years' War was that the Hats faction then in power in Sweden believed Frederick II of Prussia would succumb to his many enemies, thus affording Sweden a risk-free opportunity to recapture its possessions in Pomerania that it had ceded to Prussia in 1720, towards the end of the Great Northern War. Angered and frightened by the attempted monarchial revolution of 1756, the Hats also wanted to cause Frederick's downfall and to humiliate and destroy the Swedish queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, Frederick's sister. The Hats faction was also encouraged to declare war by France, whose wishes were central to the Hats' actions.

Frederick's invasion of Saxony in 1756 was used as a pretext for war, being denounced by both Sweden and France as a violation of the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648, of which they were both guarantors. On March 21, 1757 the governments of France and Austria agreed a convention in which Sweden and France explained that they had to maintain Germany's freedom in line with the treaty. France promised financial backing for such a war and in June the same year the decision was made to send 20,000 Swedish troops to Germany to emphasise their commitment. On September 13 that force invaded Prussian Pomerania.

To avoid this invasion appearing as a war of aggression (no war of aggression could be started without the consent of the estates), the Swedes issued no declaration of war and presented the incursion to the German parliament as aimed solely at restoring peace. Only after hostilities had begun did the promised financial support from France and its allies arrive and only then, on 22 September 1757, did the Swedish government state its conditions and declare war.